Modify Your House

Which modifications have been done to my house since it was built?

Many houses in Halifax were built in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. Depending on the age of your house, you may find evidence of gradual changes inside and outside:

 

• Nineteenth-century townhouses often had a kitchen in the basement, where a hired cook did the cooking. Since then, the kitchen moved to the main floor, where you do the cooking.

• There is a long history of heat sources. Your house originally may have been heated with coal in fireplaces. You may still find small lumps of coal in your garden, where the coal chute was located. Your fireplaces may still work for burning wood. Wood stoves were common, especially in kitchens, and are still used for wood pellets and corded wood. If other heat sources were added later to your house, they may still be functional or at least evident in leftover details: oil furnace, natural gas boiler, water heater, oil tank, propane tank, natural gas pipes; ducts for hot air supply and cold air return; radiators for steam or hot water; electric baseboard heaters; electric or hot water radiant floor heating; electric heat pumps; and equipment for solar collection and storage.

• Older houses had a main floor with rooms that could be closed off and heated separately. Since then, a non-structural wall between those rooms may have been opened up to create one large room. A more recent desire for "open plan concept" may have prompted structural walls to be replaced by beams for an even more continuous interior.

• Your house may have been built before electricity was introduced into central Halifax in 1885. Early wiring was "knob and tube," which had a limited life span and was a fire risk. That would have been replaced by copper wiring. A short phase of aluminum wiring from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s ended when its dangers became evident. Electrical outlets for two-prong plugs were replaced by grounded circuits for three-prong plugs. A 60- or 100-amp electrical panel was probably replaced by a 200-amp panel as appliances were added.

• The exterior cladding on most houses was wood shingles or wood clapboards. Your wood cladding has had new coatings. (Solid-colour stain lasts longer than paint, which tends to peel off more quickly.) On some houses the wood cladding was covered or replaced by vinyl or aluminum siding. Your roof has had new shingles or a new flat roof membrane.

• Older houses were uninsulated or had exterior wall cavities filled with newspaper or even seaweed insulation. Since then, those cavities may have been filled with blown-in insulation, batt insulation, or spray foam. A layer of rigid insulation may have been added to the exterior if the cladding was replaced.

• Single-pane windows may have received storm windows on the outside to reduce heat loss and drafts. Later, they may have been replaced by more efficient double- or triple-glazing.

• Wood porches and exterior stairs were exposed to the weather and probably had to be replaced at least once.

 

How can I recognize historical changes in my house?

Along with archival records, you may notice layers of history in the house itself. These websites offer examples:

• Family Handyman

• Bob Vila

 

Upstairs, layers of wallpaper and paint tell a story. In the basement, structural supports, pipes, and wires tell another story. While gardening outside, you may uncover old bottles, ceramics, cutlery, and shoes from the years before municipal garbage collection. Paul Erickson's book Underground Halifax has more to say about local archaeology.

Can the layout of interior rooms in my house be changed?

The typical Halifax side-hall plan allows some flexibility in its interior layout. Rooms can be combined, opened up, and used for different purposes. The structural supports that run down the middle of the basement show where structural walls are liable to be located on the floors above.

 

If you want to modify your house or property (walls, plumbing, structure, deck, fence, etc.), check HRM's Building and Development Permits page. If you have a question, you can call HRM Planning and Development: 902-490-5650.

Can I extend my house or add another dwelling on my property?

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From 2017 to 2021, HRM's Planning and Development department developed the Centre Plan in consultation with citizens through public meetings and surveys. It included development limits for residential areas in Halifax. In 2024, HRM accepted $79 million from the federal government's Housing Accelerator Fund in exchange for removing those limits and revising the Centre Plan, this time with little public consultation. 

 

Substantial changes to your house are governed by HRM's land use by-law for the Halifax Plan Area. To learn how much development is permitted in your neighbourhood, you can refer to the 2024 map of maximum building heights, defined in metres or storeys. 

 

Your house also may be in an established residential precinct: a low-rise neighbourhood where additional low-rise housing units are allowed, including backyard suites, townhouses, and low-rise multi-unit dwellings. If you're thinking of buying a house and then modifying it, check in advance that the modifications you're thinking about are permitted. For details, see pages 80–89 in the Regional Centre Secondary Municipal Planning Strategy. For maps, see Regional Centre Plan Area. If you live in a heritage conservation district, additional regulations apply. 

 

You can find the zoning for your house (probably ER-2, ER-3, or COR) on HRM's Zone Boundaries map. Depending on your zone, the allowable uses for your house are indicated on pages 47–49 of the Regional Centre Land Use Bylaw.

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If you're bewildered by development regulations, you can contact HRM's Planning and Development department for assistance or hire an architect or planner.